The present invention relates to the constructing of airfoils which are used in Jet engines.
Airfoils used in jet engines, such as blades and vanes used in turbine engines, commonly have an internal passage system for conducting a flow of cooling fluid (gas) during operation of the engine. In designing a new airfoil, it is desirable to be able to accurately predict the characteristics of cooling fluid flow through the passage system in the proposed airfoil. In the past, this has required building a prototype of the proposed airfoil. A fluid, such as air, is then conducted through the passage system in the prototype of the proposed airfoil to determine if the cooling fluid flow characteristics will be satisfactory. If the cooling fluid flow characteristics are not satisfactory, the design of the cooling fluid passage system in the proposed airfoil is modified and a second prototype is constructed and tested.
The time required to form and test a prototype airfoil is relatively long. Thus, a month or more may be required to make a ceramic core having a configuration corresponding to the configuration of a cooling fluid passage system in a proposed airfoil. Another two months or more may be required to form a mold and use the core in the mold to cast a prototype airfoil. Once the prototype airfoil has been constructed, the airfoil must be tested by conducting air through the cooling fluid passage system to determine if the desired flow characteristics have been obtained.
If the design of the cooling fluid passage system in the proposed airfoil is not satisfactory, a second prototype must be constructed. The time required to construct prototypes of the proposed airfoils is relatively long. In order to expedite the design, fabrication and use of new airfoils in Jet engines, it would be advantageous to reduce the amount of time required to determine if a cooling fluid passage system in a proposed airfoil is satisfactory.